Dwight Howard and the Magic best the West again, beating New Orleans 88-68

Magic 88, Hornets 68

December 26, 2008|By Brian Schmitz, Sentinel Staff Writer

Is Dwight Howard's team impressive enough now to persuade Barack Obama to wear Superman's sneakers for his pick-up games?

Howard's camp recently tried to reach out to the president-elect in their burgeoning marketing campaign. "Haven't heard from him yet, but that would be tight -- wouldn't it?" Howard said. "Obama and Superman?"

Obama apparently has allegiances to the Chicago Bulls, but Howard and the merry Magic are looking to make converts of anyone who'll listen.

In their latest sales pitch, Howard and the Magic drubbed the New Orleans Hornets 88-68 on Thursday to complete a sweep of Western Conference powers that also included the San Antonio Spurs and L.A. Lakers.

Toiling under the historic shadow of the Boston Celtics, the Magic raised their record to 23-6, winning their sixth consecutive game and 10 of their past 11 games. They are 13-4 against the mighty West this season.

"I look at it this way: The Celtics have the best start in the history of the NBA and we are only four games back," Coach Stan Van Gundy said before the Celtics faced the Lakers on Thursday. "We are still right there." The Lakers defeated Boston 92-83.

Howard's Superman theme reached a sold-out Amway Arena at full force on Christmas Day when the Man of Steel (Howard) trumped the Man of Steal (Chris Paul), although both all-stars were off their games on national television.

Howard made just 4-of-15 shots to finish with 12 points and 15 rebounds, and Paul saw his NBA-record streak for steals end at 108 consecutive games. Paul finished with just 12 points, and the NBA's assist leader was limited to just four.

Hedo Turkoglu paced Orlando with 20 points and Rashard Lewis added 18. Jameer Nelson, recently named player of the week, had 14 points and just one turnover in 34 minutes.

Nelson and Turkoglu each were 4-of-6 from the 3-point line as the Magic made 13-of-28 from long range.

With Howard modeling his specially made, red and blue Superman shoes for the occasion and fans wearing free Superman T-shirts, the Magic needed just 30 minutes to demolish a Hornets team (16-9) many expect to push the Lakers at playoff time.

Incredibly, the question after the first half was this: Could the Magic blow a 30-point lead and if they did, would Van Gundy ever celebrate Christmas again?

The Van Gundy house can rest in peace.

The Magic indeed lost interest and watched their lead dwindle to 19. They were never in danger, despite scoring just 27 points in the final two quarters after racing to a 61-31 first-half lead on 56 percent shooting, including 8-of-14 from 3-point range.

"The second half was easily our worst offensive half of the year. You are fighting human nature. All in all, I'm very happy," Van Giddy said. "It'll be a good Christmas."

The Magic were terrific defensively for the most part. They held the Hornets -- who are playing without 3-point threat Peja Stojakovic -- to 33 percent shooting.

Van Gundy said Howard set the tone with three blocks and seven rebounds in the opening half.

The NBA announced Howard will defend his all-star dunk title and that he continues to lead all players in all-star voting after the second returns. Welcoming the crowd to the holiday game, he told fans before tip-off that they would receive "a nice present."